The Legend of Sage Vascaroon
by GinnyPig
Summary: Set long before the events of Final Fantasy 8, the story of Vascaroon, King Zebalgas and the Great Hyne...


**The Legend of Sage Vascaroon**

**Chapter 1**

**Map - www. oi60. tinypic 4lgby0 . jpg. **

Vascaroon knelt down and place his hands in front of the fire. The flames licked the sticks and danced merrily in front of Vascaroon's eyes. Pulling back his black hood, he removed the pony tail from his long black hair, causing it to flow down reaching his giant shoulders. His thoughts darkened as the small hut light up and glowed a brilliant orange.

"_When will he come?"_ Vascaroon thought to himself. Hyne the warlord of Ethar was on a crash course with Vascaroon's village Raci. Hyne's reputation was increasing with every victory. Ethar's massacre of another village Reekum was brutal. Rumor spread from travelers that everyone was killed and the village burned to ash. No survivors and very little causalities for Ethar.

"The perfect victory." he whispered gently to himself.

"Dad? Who you talking to?" Vascaroon turned his head and gazed upon his own flesh and blood, his son Elfric. Elfric was about five years old and had his mother Chayel's fierce blue eyes and wavy blonde hair which Elfric wanted to grow long like his dads.

'Nobody boy. You ready for some Imp hunting?" the Raci warrior asked his son.

"Yes!" the boy's blue eyes lit up with excitement.

"Well first read this. Know your enemy before battle. Know what makes it weak and what makes it strong." Vascaroon passed a piece of worn parchment to his son. The Imp was an easy hunting target. Aggressive toward humans it would attack on sight. The skin could be tanned into a purple leather and the meat when cooked by his wife Chayel was delicious.

"Dad, the paper is really dirty I can barely see the writing." the boy tilted his head, confusion etched across his boyish features.

"Give it here." Vascaroon grabbed the piece of paper and read aloud. "A devilish-looking monster with wings. Uses powerful magic despite its small size. Fiendish in appearance, a purple scaly skin and multiple-colored head with an array of different colors ranging from yellow to red. Be wary as they like to travel in groups and can be nimble in their movements."

Vascaroon raised up from in front of the fire and grabbed his hunter jerkin. A plain brown garment made from Adamantoise's skin cut at the sleeves. He grabbed his brown leather pants and a slick black crossbow. Vascaroon hefted the crossbow it was light in weight, he ran his index finger through the bow string. He notched a chocobo feathered arrow into the weapon.

"Always check your weapon is ready for fire. Never know when something might sneak up on the hunt Elfric."

"Okay dad."

"Lets go then." Vascaroon beckoned his son out of the hut. Vascaroon's movements were silent. He had hunted for years and so he knew stealth was important. It seemed lost on Elfric who trudged through the thick vegetation as if he was T-Rexuar, chopping the long grass with his little knife.

"Son, less speed and less sound in your movements. Stealth is everything in the hunt."

"Okay dad." the boy replied, slowing his movements until his feet made barely a whisper. A faint roar from the distance startled the boy. A slow rumbling noise shook the ground.

"It's just a T-Rexuar. He is far away."

"How do you know that?" the boy queried.

"If he was closer we would have been knocked off our feet. The ground would have shook violently. They tend to stay in forests were their prey is. Every so often they will attack settlements when desperate. That's why my role as defender of Raci is important. Whether human or monster we always need to be ready."

"_Are we ready?" _the question jumped to the front of his thoughts. Preparations had been slow, most of the Raci army was just farmers protecting their village. The art of war for them was meeting their enemy head on and killing them. The thought of learning tactic's and formations was a pointless exercise. It will be very tough to outsmart Hyne's army that was trained in war and were sacking village after village with perfect victories.

"Dad, I have never seen a T-Rexuar attack the village." Elfric mused.

"Four months before you were born was the last attack. We lost three farmers. You see with a T-Rexuar, you attack the legs, weaken it's speed and then when it loses it's mobility you go for the heart. We never actually saw the beast die. It went back to the forest with retreat but it never came back."

"Dad, I hear something" Elfric crouched down and pointed to a nearby rustling dark green bush.

Vascaroon nodded to the boy and then hefted his crossbow. The rustling increased and from behind the bush popped out a scaly purple creature. It hefted it's tail which sway slowly over it's grotesque head. The imp sniffed the air with it's pointy nose, all to aware of another presence. It let out a blood curdling scream showing it's razor yellow teeth dripping with green saliva. Elfric blocked his ears and closed his eyes. Vascaroon raised up from the thick grass and let an arrow loose from the crossbow. The projectile whistled through the air before landing straight between the Imp's eyes. The Imp fell to the ground twitching momentarily.

"Well done Elfric. Your eyes are sharp!" Vascaroon exclaimed, declining to tell the boy he had spotted the Imp a while back.

Elfric opened his eyes and looked at the lifeless imp body. "Is it dead?"

"Your father never misses son."


End file.
